Areopagus

The Areopagus was a principal council of ancient Athens, later serving mainly as a judicial body responsible for cases of homicide, wounding, and certain religious offenses. It met on a rocky outcrop called the “Hill of Ares,” northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, from which it took its name. Its English name comes from the Late Latin composite form of the Greek name Areios Pagos, translated "Hill of Ares" (Ancient Ἄ). The war god Ares was supposed to have been tried by the other gods on the Areopagus for the murder of Poseidon's son Halirrhothius, a typical example of an aetiological myth. The exact origin of the Areopagus as an institution remains unclear. In pre-classical times, before the 5th century BC, the Areopagus may have been a council of elders for the city of Athens, with membership restricted by constitutional conventions to those who had held high public office, in this case that of Archon. Conversely, it may have begun almost exclusively as a homicide court and judicial body. While there is no consensus, homicide trials seem to have been held by Athenians on the Areopagus hill as early as the 7th century BC and possibly as far back as the mid-8th century BC. In 594 BC, the Areopagus Council was heavily restructured by Solon, as was the rest of the Athenian state apparatus. Aristotle suggests that Solon confirmed its competence over cases of treason (eisangelia, ἰ) and its guardianship of the laws (nomophylakia). Solon's entrusting of the nomophylakia to the Areopagus Council may imply that the council was invested with maintaining the stability of his reforms after he left Athens. Under the reforms of Cleisthenes, enacted in 508/507 BC, the Boule or council was expanded from 400 to 500 men, and was formed of 50 men from each of the ten clans or phylai of Attica. There is very little evidence to suggest that Cleisthenes may have altered the composition or the jurisdiction of the Areopagus Council, given that he himself was likely a council member. Cleisthenes significantly influenced the Areopagus by establishing the Council of Five Hundred and implementing ostracism, which reduced

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